"We built an MMO!"

What happened to release being the actual, well, release? Now, most games spend years in open alpha/beta/early access and release hundreds of interviews, in-depth promotional videos, and gameplay commentaries, not to mention gaming press keys, such that you already know everything about the game once it actually releases. The days of just jumping in at the release with minimal information and maximum exploration potential seem to be over for now, and that's a travesty for the genre.

User acquisition is the primary objective of the game development market. I am sure that has been a study or analysis in the industry that proves that early access models improve user acquisition rates.

I prefer to see loads of interviews and content before deciding to make a purchase. I do, however, get annoyed with paid "Beta" and "Early Acess". It's sometimes hard to distinguish whether or not something is a true beta or whether it's a word developers hide behind for pushing their stuff out too early.

Once I have to pay money and progress doesn't get deleted, I disregard any "Beta" or "Early Acess" title and treat it as a completed game.

That selling hopes, dreams, and the 'privilege' of being a 'founder' is
easier than making an MMO... that alpha/beta/early access gives you a get
out of jail free card for any and all criticisms... that with an audience
so hungry for the 'next big thing' (and gullible enough to buy into the hype),
why would you release a finished product?

That selling hopes, dreams, and the 'privilege' of being a 'founder' is
easier than making an MMO... that alpha/beta/early access gives you a get
out of jail free card for any and all criticisms... that with an audience
so hungry for the 'next big thing' (and gullible enough to buy into the hype),
why would you release a finished product?

Or maybe I'm just cynical...

you are .. and you have the freedom of not buying an early access game. Personally i never do that.

But hey, if devs want to release an unfinished game to fleece their customers, it is their freedom. No one forces you to be a sucker and pay.

What happened to release being the actual, well, release? Now, most games spend years in open alpha/beta/early access and release hundreds of interviews, in-depth promotional videos, and gameplay commentaries, not to mention gaming press keys, such that you already know everything about the game once it actually releases. The days of just jumping in at the release with minimal information and maximum exploration potential seem to be over for now, and that's a travesty for the genre.

What are your thoughts?

What's your actual issue here? It's hard to tell.

Are you complaining about the lack of MMOs being developed in the west?Are you complaining about crowd-funded games in general?Are you complaining about paid-for alpha/beta/early access?Are you complaining about having too much information before a game is released?

My thoughts:

I lament the lack of MMOs being developed by western developers. I don't like crowd-funding in general, but understand why it is currently necessaryI strongly dislike paid-for alpha/beta/early access and generally avoid but have made a couple of exceptions. I like having lots of information before release, it helps me make an informed decision when making a purchase. This is especially important with MMOs given my expected time investment in the future.

What happened to release being the actual, well, release? Now, most games spend years in open alpha/beta/early access and release hundreds of interviews, in-depth promotional videos, and gameplay commentaries, not to mention gaming press keys, such that you already know everything about the game once it actually releases. The days of just jumping in at the release with minimal information and maximum exploration potential seem to be over for now, and that's a travesty for the genre.

What are your thoughts?

What's your actual issue here? It's hard to tell.

Are you complaining about the lack of MMOs being developed in the west?Are you complaining about crowd-funded games in general?Are you complaining about paid-for alpha/beta/early access?Are you complaining about having too much information before a game is released?

I like having lots of information before release, it helps me make an informed decision when making a purchase. This is especially important with MMOs given my expected time investment in the future.

Just play 20 min for free, and you can figure out whether you are having fun or not.

No one needs to commit to any time investment to any game nowadays. Heck, even if the game stops being fun after 20 hours, you can stop, quit and move-on, right?

Depends what parts of an MMO you enjoy and what affects your enjoyment.

For me, I get my enjoyment from endgame group activities. So, I need the initial time investment (100-150 hours) to actually get to endgame. But, endgame becomes more enjoyable when playing with friends, so there is an investment into guilds, building social networks etc.

If the game is good enough then it is well worth the effort for me - my most enjoyable gaming experiences ever have been endgame MMO activities - but if the game isn't good enough then it feels like wasted time. Hence the research - I'd rather spend 5 hours heavily researching an MMO and coming to an informed decision, than wasting 100 hours grinding boring content before making the decision based on first hand knowledge.

I picture big game companies pitching ideas for new games all the time, but a few ideas ever get the okay to start on. As they develop, they are reevaluated before going onto the next phase. many of these never make it any further. We don't hear about them because they never were talked about. The only games you get to hear about are those with a very high probability of success.

Then you have your crowdfunding... where any idea with a good pitch makes it past phases that any legitimate company would have put a halt on. People keep throwing money at an idea that looks good on paper but really has a lot of holes in it once it goes into production. Lots of time energy and money trying to bail out water from a rowboat with a hole in it. If these games do get released, they are damaged goods. Goods that a legitimate company probably would never have let see the light of day.

Are these really the ideas that you want to see made? These crowdfunded projects only demonstrate why there needs to be a guy saying "No" at every development of design. That just because you can, doesn't mean you should.